I arrived in Palermo yesterday (yes, after all that stress). I traveled all day, and feasted too much. I had a large breakfast in Salerno, thinking I wouldn't eat all day, Luca even sent me with some croissants for the road. I arrived early at the bus station, found a place to buy a ticket, and waited for the bus. It was about an hour long ride to the airport(in Naples), with lovely views of Campania. I arrived at the airport too early to check in, so I just sat around & watched people, ate a croissant, thinking I might not get lunch. After I checked in, went to the gate & found a mozzarella bar/restaurant. I wanted to enjoy my last mozzarella di bufala in Campania before I left, & I saw on the menu that they had Burrata, which is even more amazing, so I ate there. The flight to Palermo was less than an hour, passed over a teeny little island (Ustica) I'd never known existed, watched a cruise ship out on the sea(amazing how massive they are!) then descended toward Sicily, which has these huge rocky mountains that tower over everything. From the airport, another long bus ride to the central station, & from there I walked to find the place I'm staying-a cute artsy little apartment in the heart of the historic district, owned by a wonderful woman named Marjolein who is from Holland. She was having a birthday get together for her visiting friend, & invited me to join them for a glass of prosecco. We were joined by 2 other friends(British & Sicilian) & I sat with them on the patio and listened to where they'd all been. Marjolein knows 7 languages (!) and the whole night conversations would switch from English to Italian to Dutch, it was quite interesting. They all had dinner, & offered for me to join, so I had this huge meal-all cooked by Marjolein-fish, a Tunisian pepper dish, salad, bread, accompanied by plenty of wine and followed by a rich chocolate mouse cake. I felt like there was a balloon in my stomach from all the food I'd eaten.
Today I explored the city. I feel so displaced here, but it is so fascinating, you really get a sense of the Arab influence in Palermo. I visited quite a few churches(unfortunately you have to pay to go into most of them), but the highlight was La Martorana-which has some incredible Byzantine mosaics. It was so beautiful in that church I found it hard to leave. Another church that stood out was the Chiesa di Gesu-all colored and sculpted marble interior. I also visited the Ballaro street market-with all kinds of vendors, all competing with one another by calling out their products and prices to customers in their thick dialects. Such a vibrant area. Of course, I bought a few things. I explored more, eventually had to return to the apartment to drop off my market goodies, had lunch with Marjolein & her friend, then headed back out. I stopped at a cafe for my first Sicilian canolo, visited more churches, walked to the Giardini Garibaldi which has these old fig trees with massive tangled trunks and roots. Went to the marionette museum, which showcases puppets from all over the world, then the galleria nazionale di Palazzo Abatellis-lots of old Italian paintings, mostly Sicilian. My final stop for the day was to try a brioche with gelato-which seems to be very popular in southern italy. Good, but way too much. Palermo is going to keep me very well fed.
